The absolute worst courses to study at uni if you actually want a grad job in 2025

Maybe you applied to uni because you actually love academic challenges and satisfying your intellectual curiosity and whatnot. But let’s be real, most UK students go to uni because their parents convinced them they’d be more likely to get a job afterwards. Some UK uni courses are way better for getting a grad job in 2025, though.

It is true that studying science is better for getting a grad job. But humanities grads don’t have drastically worse unemployment rates than the science grads. 5.4 per cent of students who studied science subjects were unemployed 15 months later. On the other hand, 6.3 per cent of humanities grads are in that situation. So, you really don’t have to be good at STEM to get a job. What a relief.

The worst UK uni course for getting a grad job is super surprising. The grads with the highest unemployment rates are… drum roll please… mathematics students. Really. Maybe employers prefer grads who’ve studied a less theoretical course? Or maybe there’s some truth in the stereotypes, and people who are great with numbers are terrible at human interaction? I need answers.

So. Many. Numbers

This data all came from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), and shows what people who graduated in 2023 were up to 15 months later. If a grad counts as unemployed, that means they don’t have any kind of job, and aren’t in further study, or doing volunteer work, or travelling, or caring for someone.

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English literature is included in the language and area studies umbrella, by the way. Classics counts as part of historical, philosophical and religious studies. The combined and general studies category is for courses that don’t fall into any other area. Most students in that group went to The Open University.

Here are the worst UK uni courses for jobs in 2025, ranked by the percentage of grads who are unemployed:

21. Veterinary sciences – 1.6 per cent

20. Medicine and dentistry – 1.7 per cent

19. Subjects allied to medicine – 3.2 per cent

18. Education and teaching – 3.6 per cent

17. Agriculture, food and related studies – 5.0 per cent

=15. Geography, earth and environmental studies (as a natural science) – 5.2 per cent

=15. Psychology – 5.2 per cent

You want a psych student around for the post-clubbing morning debrief

14. Architecture, building and planning – 5.3 per cent

13. Combined and general studies – 5.5 per cent

12. Social sciences – 5.8 per cent

11. Engineering and technology – 6.1 per cent

=9. Biological and sport sciences – 6.2 per cent

=9. Historical, philosophical and religious studies – 6.2 per cent

8. Law – 6.3 per cent

7. Geography, earth and environmental studies (social sciences) – 6.7 per cent

All geography students are in it for the trips

6. Physical sciences – 6.8 per cent

5. Language and area studies – 6.9 per cent

=3. Design, and creative performing arts – 7.0 per cent

=3. Media, journalism and communications – 7.0 per cent

2. Business and management – 7.3 per cent

1. Mathematical sciences – 7.4 per cent

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